<i>Tibetiodes himalaica</i> and <i>T. latisquamata</i> (Asteraceae) are no longer different species: Evidence from morphological and molecular data

Abstract Tibetiodes himalaica (Asteraceae) shows high phenotypic plasticity with respect to plant height, shape and size of leaves and phyllaries, number of ray florets in the capitulum, size of ray‐ligules, and colour of pappus‐hairs. Tibetiodes latisquamata is found conspecific with T. himalaica based on a detailed study of morphological characters, including scanning electron microscopic study of the cypsela, supplemented by DNA‐sequencing data using two nuclear and one chloroplast marker. The results obtained from the phylogenetic analyses also corroborate the taxonomic status of Tibetiodes as a distinct genus.